The Timeless Child
by jewell laufeyson
Summary: What is the timeless child? Who is the mysterious Doctor? Why did the Master destroy Gallifrey? What do the Time Lords know? Mentions several doctors including; the war doctor, 11th doctor, and the 12th doctor. Also posted on AO3.


The story of the timeless child is not a story but a history. We all know the brave and Mighty Doctor who will defend anyone but do you know how the doctor came to be? He or should I say she was not always like she is now. There is a deep dark and painful past to the Doctor that not even she knows about. Perhaps however, this narrative is best started from the beginning.

When the first embers of the universe were sparked into being it truly wasn't much to look at. However there came from the dust a being, the first being. It didn't start out as much just a tiny organism floating through the endless vacuum of space. As this one of a kind (which wasn't all that surprising considering how new everything was) being floated through space it began to grow learning as it went how to control itself. After billions and billions of years, this being had had enough time to grow and change but to also figure out its desires. For there was one thing in all its wondering that it never came across... another life.

It began to travel to the planets that it could find in search of something, _anything _like itself but planet after planet, system after system, galaxy after galaxy it had no luck. All this time searching was not in vain, however, because as it transversed the barren planets it was able to evolve its shape. With each planet came new conditions that the being had to overcome until eventually, it had developed the perfect body. This body was able to stand for periods of time in both scorching and glacial regions and due to its inner workings of what we would call kidneys and two hearts beating in its chest the being was able to breathe in different compounds to stay alive.

This, of course, took eons so that by the time the being had circled back to a place called the Batook System which it had searched so long ago it was surprised for there was indeed life on one of the planets. For the next twelve thousand years the being stayed with this tiny speck of life to guide it and help it grow. Once the life forms had evolved into a primitive culture the being decided to continue its look for surly if it had missed this little speck of life than there just had to be more. When it left it was sure surprised to find planets overflowing with life.

With no one there to witness it, the truth of where life comes from will forever remain a mystery, however if the being had taken a moment to consider, it would have realized that many of these evolving beings look curiously similar to how it had looked while it was still evolving.

The being, overwhelmed with the joy of not being alone anymore began going from planet to planet giving a helping hand to these new species. Over time many of them came to refer to the mysterious being that guided their ancestors as a god. Soon enough all the planets in the universe had their own stories and fables of the god that would guide and protect them.

As the being continued in its travels seeing life prosper it started to come across beings similar to its evolved form. This warmed the being so much that it decided that it wanted to stay on the planet that its inhabitants called Gallifrey. The being for all that it loved the planet's inhabitants called Gallagans soon realized that their lifespan was simply too short. In an effort to stop losing those that it cared about it began trying to help the species evolve but when this failed in a fit of desperation the being leaked some of its own life force into another.

At first, the being didn't know what it had done but soon it realized that instead of dying the Gallagans affected by what it had done simply changed. Seeing this as a chance to prolong its friend's lives the being began to share its life force with as many Gallagans as it could. Sooner or later the Gallagans began to call the being their word for healer and wiseman, and the being proudly taking the title upon itself began calling itself Doctor.

As the years passed the Doctor began traveling again to bring knowledge between planets. One day he felt the most per curler energy coming from a non-sentient plant on a nondescript planet in the Hakuru system and decided to bring it back to Gallifrey. The doctor with his new plant began experimenting with it giving it life energy and combining it with other strange plants he had found until one day he came to it to see that it had sprouted! Having never felt something with that much energy coursing through it before the Doctor began figuring out what the plant could really do. Soon the doctor would come to realize that the energy this plant gave off was enough to bend the flow of time, and so the first T.A.R.D.I.S. was born.

Through the eons, the doctor enjoyed the abundance and prosperity that he found in the universe. What the doctor didn't know, however was that the balance of life was being tipped in the wrong direction. With life, there must come death as the doctor would soon come to realize.

Within just a few short centuries the doctor watched as planets began becoming corrupt and harsh, killing that which it found weak. This saddened the doctor so much that he began forming a force if you will to restore peace to the universe, this force composed of the beings from Gallifrey who would soon become known as Time Lords.

While the doctor seemed to be having luck with the multitudes of planets he failed to realize that in extending the life of the Time Lords he through the balance of the world off. War began to break out not between neighboring planets but between the Time Lords and the beings that felt threatened by them.

The Doctor led his people into battle to defend themselves but while the Time Lords reigned victorious, the doctor found himself falling to despair. All he ever wanted was to share life with someone but now all he could see were the dead on both sides of the war.

The doctor's pain followed him for several centuries before he decided that in order to escape it he would have to forget it. He got to work making a being that could provide warning and care for his favorite people and once complete he assumed the body of a Time Lord with its regenerative properties and wiped his memory.

The Time Lords in reverence to their past leader left him alone to grow and experience life on his own and even spread the stories of the timeless child that founded the way of life on Gallifrey. But soon they had to call on the doctor to help protect them again for the curse of the time lords was that they will never find peace while they mess with the balance of the universe.

Over the years the doctor will come to repeat a cycle, He will grow and learn who he is and when the time comes he will save Gallifrey only to forget and start over again. What the leaders of Gallifrey never tell the doctor however is that his parting gift of knowledge turns out to be too much. The information given to the Time Lords is of a downfall brought about by the Doctor himself.

The first prophecy given to the Time Lords was of the Hybrid destined to destroy Gallifrey and leave the universe in shambles. Many disputed in the early years weather the doctor was the hybrid or not but it soon became evident when another prophecy became known this time about the spiral of the timeless child. It was said that the timeless child would spiral deeper into insanity after every 'life' with the invisible burdens of every past life weighing on his mind.

While the time lords dispute the knowledge imparted unto them the doctor can be found exploring the universe. The doctor's wonder of life never diminished so as he or she repeatedly became 'reborn' he could be found wandering the universe. Now despite what you might think the doctor is not always kind and benevolent, sometimes the doctor must be reminded of why he travels especially later on into each life for he always has a great war on his heart. The curse of the Time Lords never goes away, all they can hope for is that the Doctor will always be there to save them.

At this point, it is fair to mention that the life the Doctor is living right now is one of his last. In this life, the Doctor faced his war very early into his life comparatively speaking. A notable difference however, is that instead of being able to just stop the conflict the Doctor found himself banishing his home to a parallel pocket universe. The end of this conflict found the doctor alone with horrible memories and no way to cope causing exactly what the Time Lords feared to come to pass, the decline of the doctor was in full swing.

This Doctor found himself flirting the line with kindness and cruelty. This doctor made such a name for himself that just the sound of his name could turn an army around on the spot for demons surely run when a good man goes to war.

The Time Lords, aware of what was coming to pass desperately tried returning to the doctor but when they did all that they managed to accomplish was sealing their fate. For the Time Lords upon seeing just how far the Doctor had gone in their absence thought that their only hope would be to hide the doctor away, and so they captured him in a confession dial.

The Time Lords didn't mean to make it a torcher chamber, just a mystery for the doctor to solve. They surely never saw the chance that it could have pushed the Doctor over the edge.

Or that he would ever manage to get out.

After spending four and a half billion years in his own personal hell the doctor was free. He would go on to finish his 'life' and be reborn but from then on there was a stark difference in the doctor.

It was gradual at first, just a cynical old man on good days and a few bad days of a man with nothing to fear or lose. Only two lives after that of our doctor will we see that on a particularly whimsical day the doctor decided to become a curator for the London gallery. He didn't stay for long but he did seem to have achieved what he set out to do.

As we come to the end of the line you may be surprised to learn that the doctor still had just a shred of Doctor in him, that is, he enjoyed watching life. The doctor had just lost all regard for the sanctity of life, he simply couldn't remember why it was so special. By the end the doctor didn't even go by his own name anymore instead, when he was still young the doctor decided that he should be called the Master.

The Master, with no regard for life, found himself enticed with watching things burn. He went around causing mayhem and death wherever he went. The one person he simply couldn't kill however, was the Doctor. The Master found his old self early on in his life and became fascinated with someone he could feel a connection to. He loved to see how far he could push the doctor and for a while Missy even traveled with him.

The Master though, well the Master just couldn't contain his lust for destruction. We will never truly know the Master's intentions in returning to Gallifrey that last time but the consequences are evident as the start of the end of the universe.

When the master came to his home planet he discovered the truth of who he was. He found out that he had lived through all of time and been _used _by the Time Lords. He realized that his life was the same over and over again; travel, save Gallifrey, lose his memories, until just a few lives back when the Time Lords decided to throw him away!

For two long days, the Master raged about the injustice of it all, that he couldn't even remember who he was. On the third day, however, the Master stopped, he got a calm look on his face and even smiled.

The Master walked out of the house he had been hiding away in and decided to burn it. Not just the house, but the street. But that didn't satisfy him, so he burnt the town.

On and on until he found he was out of things to burn for all of Gallifrey was smoldering, no one was left but him.

The Master decided that it was time he be allowed to do something that he wanted to do! But first, he needed to tell his old friend the Doctor the truth. He found her on earth with some new pets but facing her and seeing how happy and hopeful he used to be he simply couldn't find the energy to tell her. Instead, he parted from her with one statement.

"They lied, about the timeless child, about everything!"

Now that his message was taken care of the Master thought it high time he follow through with what the Time Lords thought him capable of, ending the universe.

One might think that to do this he would have just started attacking places but the Master knew that he had to be smart about this so he went back to the beginning. He became a dictator in some places, a conqueror in others, but mostly he became a whisper.

"Why should they be prosperous? Take it for yourself!"

"You are owed this, so take it!"

"Hurt them."

"They are beneath you."

"So what if it'll hurt the planet? It'll make you rich!"

"Why should you help? What would you gain from that?"

The Master laid the foundations for the end of the universe at the very beginning of its life. Once he laid the foundations he committed to seeing the universe one last time. He lived through year after year traveling around and surprisingly not causing much mayhem, just watching as society's rose and fell, worlds were born and eventually destroyed. The Master for once in his life just watched as uninvolved as one can be.

Eventually, the Master realized it was time to act again, and began his crusade. All the worlds with corrupt governments were approached by an insane man promising them everything if they joined his cause. Of course, none of these people knew just what they were signing up for but boy did the Master deliver. In all the corners of the universe, people were being attacked and conquered, there was no safe place for anyone to hide from these horrible warlords.

After so long, there was no more land to pillage so the warlords began fighting each other, that insane man had promised them everything after all.

On and on the fighting went until whole galaxies were destroyed, for if one couldn't have the land then no one else could either.

All the while the Master stood back and watched the chaos with a smile. Eventually, just a tiny galaxy was left, in it stood the sole winner of everything, however little 'everything' was left. The Master went to congratulate them on a job well done and while they were partying for their victory the Master struck. First, he burnt their home planet to the ground, then the solar system, then the galaxy.

The end is exactly like the beginning, devoid of all life except one being, that being the Master for that is what he is. The Master of all life.

And death.


End file.
